BHS boys tennis falls to Granite Hills 11-7

RIDGECREST — The Burroughs boys tennis team made progress in its second match with Granite Hills, but not enough to avoid another loss to the Cougars. The Burros fell to Granite Hills 11-7 on Friday at BHS courts to snap a two-game winning streak in DSL play.

RIDGECREST — The Burroughs boys tennis team made progress in its second match with Granite Hills, but not enough to avoid another loss to the Cougars. The Burros fell to Granite Hills 11-7 on Friday at BHS courts to snap a two-game winning streak in DSL play.

“It was an inspiring performance — we stepped it up a little bit and played a lot better than we did last time,” Burros head coach Kenold Prince said. “With a better start, we could have really challenged them.”

Burroughs (2-7, 2-2 DSL) split with Granite Hills in each of the first two rounds before the Cougars pulled away. The Burros dropped five of six sets in the third round, with only No. 1 singles player Zach Flatebo picking up a victory.

“It was a pretty tough game. The first round was close and the second round was close, but down the stretch they had more wins than we did,” Prince said.

Flatebo swept his sets 7-5, 6-4, 6-0 in his best performance of the season. In the first round, Flatebo handed Granite Hills’ No. 1 singles player Rishi Nanda his first loss this year by winning a back-and-forth set.

“At practice, I told him if you want to beat Rishi you have to hit it to his backhand and be patient,” Prince said. “He played just like that — he was patient. It was back and forth and got tight, but he kept his composure and pulled it out at the end — it was the best I’ve seen him play.

In the first meeting between the Burros and Cougars, Flatebo lost to Nanda 6-1. In Friday’s rematch, he played well and followed the game plan to avenge that result.

“Rishi was hoping he could go undefeated this season, but Zach kind of spoiled it for him,” Prince said. “That was a big win for him.”

No. 2 singles player Nathaniel Aralar won one of his three sets against Granite Hills, finishing with scores of 1-6, 6-1 and 3-6. No. 3 singles player Minhkhoa Vu also took one of three with scores of 6-1, 3-6 and 4-6.

On the doubles side, Burroughs’ only wins came from the No. 1 doubles team of Chase May and Jonathan Heier. The Burros’ top team won its first two sets by margins of 7-5 and 6-0 before losing to Granite Hills’ No. 1 team by a score of 4-6.

“I was hoping we could get a couple more,” Prince said.

The Burros’ No. 2 doubles team of Gary Ribultan and Allan Baker lost its sets 1-6, 4-6, 4-6. The No. 3 doubles spot also went winless — Samuel Johnson and Matthew Bradford dropped two sets by identical 3-6 margins, then Johnson and Harrison Kolar fell 1-6 in the last round.

Page 2 of 2 - Burroughs returns to action on Tuesday at Silverado in a DSL match scheduled to start at 3 p.m. The Burros play at Victor Valley next Friday.